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Never underestimate the power of perception! Perception plays a major part in what is actually said -vs- how it is heard. And to patients…perception is reality!

For example, lets look at broken appointments, one of the biggest problems in your practice. Last minute changes and no show appointments account for thousands of dollars a month in lost revenue for the practice!

Are you sending signals to your patients that it’s all right to break appointments?

When the patient calls and says they “forgot.” or “Have a meeting.” or “Just want to reschedule.” Is your response ” That’s OK.”, “Sure, that’s no problem.” or simply…”How soon do you want to come back? ” And then schedule them right back at the 1st available opening?

A well established practice with a scheduling coordinator who knows the patients well may have a sense of “offending” the patient if they remind them of the dilemma this last minute changes will make.

Nothing could be further from the truth or more harmful to the practice!

An unusually high number of broken appointments generally translates into a lack of respect concerning your practice and appointment time and “time is money.”

Generally patients simply are not aware of the problems associated with last minute changes because they have been “trained” (they hear) it’s so easy to change the appointment.

Often before we can “train” the patient, the front office must first “re-train” their response to these last minute calls.

For example, when the specific date or time a new patient or existing patient wants is not available, if our reply is: “We get cancellations every day” or even worse, “We get cancellations all the time and can get you right in”, what have we taught this patient?

In just a matter of seconds the patient has been “taught” (heard) It’s all right to call at the last minute to change an appointment, cancellations happen all the time, when they do cancel they can get “right back in.”

The patient has no value associated with the practice or the appointment time. In fact, we “signaled” (and they heard) it’s OK!

A more positive verbal response would be: “Let’s go ahead and schedule you an appointment. Should there be a change in our schedule on that date, I will be glad to call you. What is the best number to reach you? ”

This time in just a matter of seconds you have trained the new patient and existing patient to think (they heard): You have a tight schedule (busy practice), “Cancellations” are not even mentioned (not an option) and there could be a wait before being re-appointed if they have to change—(best keep the appointment!)

Value is now being associated with the practice and the appointment time.

This problem didn’t happen overnight and won’t be “fixed” overnight. Making it a priority to use positive verbal skills when training your patients to value their appointment and practice time will make a noticeable difference.

After all, how you are perceived by your patients is everything, and it’s all in their Perception…. What your patients are (Really) hearing!

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Would you like to learn more about using Social Media to increase your online visibility, build profitable relationships, and grow your practice?  Livvie Matthews, a Certified Social Media Specialist, Blogger, and Speaker, is passionate about helping dentists leverage the incredible marketing power social media presents for their practice and their bottom line!  e-mail Livvie@writebusiness.net or visit http://www.writebusiness.net/blog

Technorati Tags: Article Mktg, Building Business, Dental Marketing, Internet Marketing, Livvie Matthews

On LinkedIn your most valuable piece of real estate is your Public Profile/Summary area.  What is your profile (or lack of it) saying about you?

As a copywriter, one of the first places I look for information on a person, client, or business is their LinkedIn profile.  I’m amazed at the number of people/businesses that aren’t utilizing their LinkedIn Public Profile area.

LinkedIn is a powerful professional networking site viewed by other businesses, colleagues, prospective clients and patients, and your competition.

If you had the opportunity to advertise (Free) your business/practice on the front page of your city newspaper, would you jump at the chance to share the benefits of your business or would you just pass it up?  I’m sure you would jump at the chance!

Similar to a newspaper, your LinkedIn profile area is your ‘Front Page’ opportunity to tell your viewers – who you are, what you do, and most importantly…how you can solve their problems.  

Here you want to list your business information, accomplishments, and benefits you and your business provide.  It can be as long or as short as you want it to be.  Medium length is a good length to create. 

You want to make sure you give your viewers the information they are looking for. List the benefits for them. How you can solve their problems, what solution they will receive in doing business with you, how you can make their life simpler-less stressful.   Answer in your Public Profile area the questions your viewers are asking in their minds, what they are looking for – why they are searching.

Your Public Profile area is where you and your business can shine. But remember, they aren’t asking about you, they are asking what can you do for them!

Make sure you also create your shorter, more professional, LinkedIn Public Profile URL, if you haven’t done so already.

Whether you create your profile yourself or hire a reliable copywriter, don’t overlook your LinkedIn Profile: Your (powerful) Front Page Opportunity!

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Would you like to learn more about using Social Media to increase your online visibility, build profitable relationships, and grow your practice?  Livvie Matthews, a Certified Social Media Specialist, Blogger, and Speaker, is passionate about helping dentists leverage the incredible marketing power social media presents for their practice and their bottom line!  Email  e-mail Livvie@writebusiness.net or visit http://www.writebusiness.net/blog    http://www.linkedin.com/in/livviematthews

Technorati Tags: Building Business, Copywriting, Livvie Matthews, social media marketing

Right on the edge of Charlotte (NC) we have a huge pumpkin patch.  Every year for the past several years, people have come from miles around to purchase their pumpkins.  Couples, singles, families with their children, older people, younger people, and all ages between.

Over this period of time, the owners have added a maze, hayrides, mums and other fall flowers, even pony rides.  You can just purchase your pumpkin from those already picked or you can even walk out into the pumpkin patch and pick your own.  The children love this because they can pull the little  red wagon or ride in the little wagons while choosing their treasured pumpkins.  

From Oct, 1 until mid November, The Stables at Hodges Dairy Farm or the “Pumpkin Patch” as it’s called, is packed with business!

It’s also a great example of  “repurposing”, because  just a few years back this dairy farm had gone out of business.  The barns and everything around it had begun going downhill.  Then they started growing and selling pumpkins. Next they added the wagons and allowing people to go in and pick their own.

After that came the hayrides, and last year they added a huge maze.  While all this was going on, they also started adding parking, because they were now busting at the seams the entire season…the owners of the farm had learned to repurpose!

Repurposing is the most powerful content creation strategy for Internet marketing and Social Media dominance.  This means creating content on a popular topic and then repurposing the content on other media’s for distribution.

For example you write a blog post.  Then you can creat a Podcast, You Tube video, write an article, and even create a series for Twitter, all from using the content created from your original blog post. 

Additional ideas for repurposing could be Twitter survery’s, blog post series, articles series, email tip series (very popular), and PDF guides…for starters.

Then you can create Hubpages linking back to your original blog post and even your website.   Create Squidoo lenses focusing on some of the tips or series created. 

These are just a few of the possibilites to get your creative juices flowing.  What about you, how can you repurpose some of your material already created now that you understand this powerful strategy for Internet Marketing:  The Art of Repurposing Content!

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Would you like to learn more about using Social Media to increase your online visibility, build profitable relationships, and grow your practice?  Livvie Matthews, a Certified Social Media Specialist, Blogger, and Speaker, is passionate about helping dentists leverage the incredible marketing power social media presents for their practice and their bottom line!  Emaill Livvie@writebusiness.net Visit http://www.WriteBusiness.net/blog.

Technorati Tags: Building Business, Internet Marketing, Livvie Matthews, social media marketing

Social Media as we know is a very hot buzz word.   As a result key social network sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn have grown by leaps and bounds.  Blogging is growing at a phenomenal rate and social media marketing services have  exploded on the Internet marketing scene!

Social news sites such as Digg and Propeller, social bookmarking sites Delicious and StumbleUpon, video marketing sites like You Tube, article distribution sites such as Ezine Articles, RSS Feeds, and social content sharing sites like Squidoo, Scribd, and Hubpages have burst on the scene becoming social media distribution points. 

But with all these new sites with their added bells and whistles there is one common thread…they all must have some form of written content, even videos use scripts.  From the short 140 characters on Twitter to the in-depth information contained in search engines, it all begins with content.

On the Internet, content is king and always will be because  the vast majority of people use the Internet searching for information and the Internet is the information superhighway. 

But if content is king, then surely social media is queen with all the social media marketing points for mass distribution of content.

Enter the copywriter: One who writes copy (content).  But not just any content, it must be…value related/written content.

Value written content builds creditability and trust, establishes you as a thought leader in your field of expertise, and is the basis for building profitable relationships by showing you care…IF it’s seen. 

Value written content reaches your target market, speaks the language of your audience, provides a solution to their  ”pain”, and brings them back again and again…IF it’s seen.   

Social media marketing takes your value written content and using the social media sites positions your content for mass distribution increasing your Online visibility…getting it seen.

In the past, copywriters created the content, but once passed on to the client, visibility depended on their website being found and/or using a mailing or subscriber list, their direct market print material being seen.   

With the onset of social media, it’s offered copywriters a perfect turnkey solution for their clients.  By creating a targeted content and social media marketing strategy  and action plan,  a copywriter / social media marketing specialist not only writes the relevant content, but as mentioned before, uses the social media sites to position your content for mass distribution increasing your Online visibility and providing increased traffic.

For your next project start out with an advantage.  Work with a copywriter that has the marketing skills to do both…Social Media and Copywriting:  The Best of Both Worlds!

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Would you like to learn more about using Social Media to increase your online visibility, build profitable relationships, and grow your practice?  Livvie Matthews, a Certified Social Media Specialist, Blogger, and Speaker, is passionate about helping dentists leverage the incredible marketing power social media presents for their practice and their bottom line!  Email Livvie@writebusiness.net Visit http://www.WriteBusiness.net/blog.

Technorati Tags: Blogging, Building Business, Copywriting, Internet Marketing, social media marketing

With Internet marketing, blogs, and social media marketing, people have developed an insatiable appetite for information and they want it now!  Writing informative articles relevant to your business to post on blogs, article directories, in ezines, and on web sites is a very effective way to get the word out and to market your business…free!

Writing and submitting articles is by far one of the best business building resource and most powerful forms of free advertising on the Internet!  You share your knowledge, experience and expertise and in return you receive publicity…free!

Post your article in your blog, on your web site, publish it in your ezine, submit your article to other ezines, offer as “free content” to other web sites and even compile a series of articles into an “e-book bonus”….free! 

Cement yourself as a thought leader in your field. Writing articles is the most important skill you can learn for online marketing.  In addition to establishing you as an “expert” in your field, writing articles gives you author status which offers other opportunities within itself….free!

Beginning to get the picture? 

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Technorati Tags: Building Business, Internet Marketing, social media marketing